More than four months ago, on October 7, 2023, American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg Pollin, 23, went into hiding with his childhood friend, Staff Sgt. Anel Shapira, 22, was with 29 other young people in a small roadside bomb shelter as Hamas terrorists attacked the Supernova music festival in southern Israel.
At dawn, rockets were fired and armed terrorists descended into the Negev desert on motorized paragliders.
They raped women and massacred about 1,200 people in Israel that day, including 367 of the more than 3,000 people attending the festival.
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Goldberg-Pollin sent her mother, Rachel Goldberg, two text messages that morning, her mother told Fox News Digital. She said “I love you” to one person and “I’m sorry” to the other.
“He was just starting his life, and we pray to God that he comes home,” Goldberg said in a recent phone interview with Fox News Digital.
Hersh Goldberg Pollin was wounded and abducted by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Fox News Digital recently interviewed his mother, Rachel Goldberg, who said, “We pray to God that he comes home.” (Courtesy of the Goldberg Pollin family)
It was her faith that got her through her toughest times, she revealed in a sometimes emotional interview.
“Another universe”
Goldberg and her husband live in Israel (both were born and raised in Chicago). They have her three children. Her son Harsh was born in California. When he was nearly eight years old, his family immigrated to Israel.
Goldberg said she met her son at a post-synagogue Shabbat dinner in Jerusalem the night before the attack.
“At around 11 p.m., he kissed me, kissed my husband, and said, ‘I love you. See you tomorrow.’
She learned the gory details of what had happened to her son and his friend from four survivors who had been trapped under corpses in the same bomb shelter as her son.
When the terrorists threw grenades into the shelter, Shapira heroically threw seven of them back outside. However, the eighth bullet exploded in his hand and he died.
This image, made from undated body camera video footage taken by a downed Hamas terrorist and released by the Israel Defense Forces, shows a Hamas terrorist roaming through a residential area at an undisclosed location in southern Israel. It is reflected. (Israel Defense Forces, via AP)
More grenades were thrown into the shelter and gunshots rang out. 18 people were killed in this riot alone.
Terrorists armed with machine guns then ordered Hersh Goldberg-Polin and two other injured young men into a pickup truck outside.
“He wasn’t screaming. He was clearly in shock.”
When Goldberg-Polin stood up, survivors reported seeing his left arm blown off below the elbow.
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Rachel Goldberg and her husband, John Pollin, later saw video footage from the festival of their son getting into a truck.
“He wasn’t screaming. He was obviously in shock. You could see his arm was blown off…He had some kind of bandage on him and he was wearing a T-shirt or something,” Goldberg told Fox News Digital. “He was wrapped in a bag. He drove himself to the hospital.” I’m alone in the truck and he turns and sits down and I see a stump where his arm used to be. ”
Hersh Goldberg-Pollin (left), pictured with his parents Rachel Goldberg and John Pollin. He has been incarcerated since October 7, 2023. Since then, his parents have strongly advocated for his release and the release of all hostages. (Courtesy of the Goldberg Pollin family)
The distraught mother added: “We’ve been living in a different world ever since.”
She said the last signal from her son’s cell phone was at 10:25 a.m. that Saturday.
“Hope is essential”
Hersh Goldberg Pollin is one of more than 240 people abducted by Hamas. 45 of the songs are from music festivals.
It is believed that more than 130 hostages are still being held in Gaza. The youngest child is a 1-year-old baby.
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Rachel Goldberg is Modern Orthodox. She believes that her faith and her relationship with God have helped her overcome her emotional pain, fear, and anxiety that she is experiencing.
“God believes in us and gives us another chance to give meaning to our lives.”
“If you are a believer, it is essential to have hope,” she says.
She told Fox News Digital that she recited the Modh Ani prayer when she woke up to show her gratitude to God.
Goldberg and his son Hirsch. She told Fox News Digital that since Oct. 7, she has been reading a psalm every day that corresponds to the number of days her son was held hostage by Hamas. (Courtesy of the Goldberg Pollin family)
“It’s a one-line prayer: ‘Thank you for giving me back my life, giving me my soul back, and believing in me.'”
She added, “I love the idea that God believes in us and is giving us a chance to live another day.” [create] It has meaning in our lives. ”
The devoted mother reads Psalms throughout the day, which she said strengthens her.
“I think of Psalms as a self-help book because you can choose what speaks to you in that moment.”
“I think of Psalms as a self-help book because you can choose what speaks to you in that moment,” she says.
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“Some of the psalms say, ‘Hallelujah, you are wonderful,’ while others say, ‘I’m at the bottom of the hole. Where are you? Why are you hiding your face from me? Help me.’ Some say, “Help! ‘”
Psalm 23 reminds us that God is with us, she said. “‘Even though I’m going through the shadows of something terrible, I know you’re with me,'” she said. It’s a really great tool for people who are.”
She also summed up Psalm 121: “Out of the depths I call to you.”
Since Oct. 7, she said she has been reading a psalm every day that corresponds to the number of days her son was held hostage.
“You don’t need two arms to move around.”
Rachel Goldberg raised and crushed her voice when talking about her son on Fox News Digital.
She described his humor as “sarcastic without being mean” and said he always followed the commandment of being respectful to his parents.
He is a voracious reader who loves music, soccer, and camping.
Hersh Goldberg Pollin (far right) and his sisters as children. According to his mother, he was planning to travel for at least another year when he was abducted. (Goldberg Poulin family)
Since he was 15, he has been active with Hapoel Jerusalem, an organization that organizes youth coexistence activities, such as soccer games where Jewish and Arab children play together.
When his son was in first grade, he asked to upgrade his National Geographic Kids subscription to regular National Geographic.
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Always curious about exploring different places, he traveled alone for nine weeks through six European countries last summer, attending music festivals and meeting people from all over the world.
According to his mother, he had been planning to travel for at least another year when he was abducted.
Goldberg said that according to Jewish tradition, releasing captives is the most important mitzvah (commandment).
She said she prays that he “gets the help he needs, that he gets the new arm that he needs, and that he gets to travel around the world. You don’t need two.” she added.
Goldberg said he believes the Gaza hostage crisis is a global humanitarian crisis and that according to Jewish tradition, the release of prisoners is the most important mitzvah (commandment).
Hersh Goldberg-Polin as a child. “There comes a time in everyone’s life when you need to stand up and be brave,” said her mother, Rachel Goldberg. “It is in times of crisis that our true selves are revealed and we are reminded of who we are.” (Courtesy of the Goldberg Pollin family)
She says that even if you’re afraid to engage, “there are moments in everyone’s life when you need to stand up and be brave… In times of crisis, you show your true self, and that’s when you realize who you are.” It reminds me of what it is,” he said. . ”
She and her husband came up with the idea for an educational effort to advocate for the Gaza hostages and raise awareness that freedom from captivity is a universal fundamental human right for all innocent people around the world.
“Everyone is important”
Jewish educational organization M²: Institute for Jewish Experiential Educationand Kol Haot launched the website Everyone Counts on January 14, 2024, in partnership with the Jewish Education Project, to bring this idea to life. This commemorated the 100th day of hostage captivity.
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The day after the site’s launch is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Everyone Counts site will feature a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. that describes his passionate support for Israel, democracy, freedom, and peace for people to promote. I was there.
Photos from the Kidnapped Hearts exhibition in Ness Ziona, Israel, show life-sized black iron silhouettes of hostages with empty hearts cut out, showing the devastating emotional impact of captivity. ing.
John Pollin (left) and his son Hersh Goldberg Pollin remain prisoners of terrorists in Gaza. John Pollin and his wife Rachel Goldberg believe that freedom from captivity is a universal fundamental human right for all innocent people around the world. (Courtesy of the Goldberg Pollin family)
The Everyone Counts site also has links to other sites such as Listen to Moms, which provides support to mothers in 25 countries who have been advocating for the release of infants and children abducted by Hamas on October 7 .
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The website features simple steps people can take, such as taking one minute a day to contact their legislators and wearing a yellow ribbon, a symbol of hope for hostage freedom. There is.
Displaying this symbol in public lets families of hostages know that their loved ones are not forgotten.
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The site also points out that any advocacy can be dedicated to a specific hostage.
No’a Gorlin, COO of M², said: “Everyone Counts is about knowing people, getting to know each person. This is not just a public story. This is something very personal. These are people, individuals, lives. It’s a story and a world in itself.”
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